Sweater Weather
by WingedPegasus
Summary: Catra doesn't have her own ugly holiday sweater, and she's starting to feel a little left out.


It wasn't that Catra _wanted _a sweater.

They were ugly, honestly. Awful patterns, garish colors, slightly lumpy in that obviously homemade way. But… they did look soft. And warm. That was a plus these days; the chill of the winter air had begun to seep into the unnecessarily wide halls and tall ceilings of the castle, and Catra was finally starting to feel it. She'd woken up shivering the past couple days, even with an extra blanket, so it would be nice to have another layer to wear around the place.

It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that Adora had started wearing her sweater like a festive uniform as she ran around decorating the castle with her new best friends. She, Bow, and Glimmer seemed to match, somehow, despite the fact that the visual similarities of the three garments were limited only to their sheer hideousness and the enormous letter knit into the chest of each sweater to match the wearer's first initial. (There was a larger, white and gold sweater hanging in Adora's closet with a giant "S" emblazoned on it, surrounded by tiny wings and swords. Even _She-Ra_ had her own sweater.)

But Catra wasn't about to get a sweater of her own anytime soon. They came from Glimmer's aunt, she had discovered, and the princess alliance reluctantly allowing Catra to join their ranks was a far cry from being close enough to the royal family to get her own personalized knitwear. Especially after the portal, and its… consequences.

So, Catra took the most reasonable course of action.

She stole Adora's jacket.

It was disappointingly easy, given how Adora only ever seemed to wear that absurd sweater these days. Adora's reaction was disappointing, too; simply a raised eyebrow, smile, and short laugh from across the room before returning to whatever ridiculous piece of unnecessary greenery she was stringing across an archway with Sparkles.

Catra folded her arms with an annoyed shiver. The darn thing wasn't even warm enough. Honestly, who wore a jacket with gigantic holes in the sleeves? Ridiculous.

Catra strolled over to a table strewn haphazardly with decorations and eyed it suspiciously. There was an awful lot of red. And green. And silver and gold and strings of unlit, multicolored lights. She picked up a strand and dangled it from her forefinger and thumb.

"What's this holiday thing called, again?" She called over in Adora's general direction. The concept of "holidays" was foreign enough, but she'd started tuning out after learning that there were several of them every year and they all had different names and meanings. It sounded exhausting.

"Winterfest!" The excited response came from several feet above and to the left of Catra's head. Adora was on a ladder. "It's when everyone gathers around with the people closest to them and celebrates having a place to be together and warm in the coldest months of the year. There's lots of food and decorations and stuff. I think the lights are supposed to look like stars?"

"Mm." Catra let the strand of lights drop back to the table, staring instead at a ball-shaped decoration with a hook on its top. It was red, shiny, and placed precariously close to the edge of the table. She couldn't tear her eyes away.

"D'you want to help decorate?"

Catra ignored her, slowly reaching toward the red ball in a trance-like state. Just before her hand would have made contact, she flicked a finger out and knocked it onto the floor.

Disappointingly, it didn't shatter, simply bouncing a couple times before rolling away to rest at Adora's feet. Huh. Guess she'd climbed down.

"I take that as a 'no,'" Adora said with an amused expression, reaching down to pick up the ornament.

"You seem to be doing fine without me," Catra said, letting a little more bitterness seep into her tone than she'd planned.

Adora gave her an odd look, then fidgeted with the ornament for a moment. "You know we want you here, right? If you want to be."

Catra was saved from responding by a distant shriek of laughter that rose from behind Adora, and they both turned to see Bow chasing after Glimmer with a handful of fake snow before finally catching her and rubbing it into her hair. Adora smiled, and despite Catra's best efforts, the corner of her mouth twitched upward slightly.

"I felt a little out of place my first Winterfest, too," Adora said quietly, still watching the antics in the distance.

Adora, out of place with her new friends?

"Why?"

She shrugged, fidgeting again. "It's a time for being with your closest friends and family, and I'd left all that behind me." She glanced up, meeting Catra's eyes. "I didn't know if I'd ever have it again."

Catra swallowed. "Well, I… I'm here now," she said, lamely.

The warmth of Adora's smile almost chased away the cold in Catra's bones.

"I know."

In the next instant, Catra found herself enveloped in a very sudden, very tight hug.

"What are you doing?" she asked, slowly.

"Giving you a hug," Adora said into her shoulder, tightening her grip a little.

"I noticed," Catra said, fighting very hard not to give in to the desire to bring her arms up and return the gesture. "Why?"

"Because you're here, it's Winterfest, and I'm happy," Adora replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Plus, you looked a little cold."

Catra found she couldn't muster any snide comments about the first part of Adora's statement, and therefore focused on the second.

"I'm not cold."

"Oh, well in that case–" Adora immediately released her grip, turning around to return to her decorating. Catra's body immediately felt the betraying chill of the castle's winter air, and before she realized what she was doing, Catra found herself halting Adora's escape by wrapping her in a tight hug.

"I thought you weren't cold," Adora said, and Catra could _hear_ her smug expression.

A half-dozen sarcastic remarks rose to her lips, but she swallowed them. "I lied." Catra pressed the side of her face into the warm, soft, and slightly lumpy material of the sweater covering Adora's back. She pulled back. "And as long as I'm being truthful: you look ridiculous."

Adora laughed, turning to pluck briefly at the red sleeve of Catra's–_her_–jacket. "So do you."

"Insulting your own fashion choices, Adora? Bold move."

"Nah, I just don't think it works for you."

"_Please_. Everything works for me." Catra tugged the hem of the jacket down and struck a pose, hands on her hips. "I look amazing."

Another laugh from Adora. "If you say so."

–

Some hours later, Catra found herself walking the halls of the castle, rubbing her arms in a thoroughly inadequate attempt to warm up. The glow of a fire caught her eye, and she turned the corner to find a well-decorated room with a tall tree in one corner and a fire blazing in the hearth. She stretched her hands out gratefully toward the heat, letting her eyes wander over the tree. It was pretty, she had to admit. Lights twinkled from amid the dark green of its branches, polished baubles hung from its boughs, and little strands of silver and gold glinted in the firelight.

"Catra?" A voice came from behind her. She turned to see Adora standing in the entryway and felt her mouth tug up into a small smile.

"Hey, Adora."

Adora walked over to stand next to her in the warmth of the fire, joining her admiration of the tree. "How do you like the tree?"

Catra shrugged. "It's alright."

Adora nudged her with an elbow, her smile knowing. "You like it."

"I do not. It's too.." she struggled for a moment, searching for an appropriate word. "…princess-y," she finished, lamely.

Adora shrugged, unaffected. "I helped decorate it."

Oh, great. Catra felt a stab of something like regret. She coughed.

"I mean, it's… nice."

Adora snorted. "Don't strain yourself. Did you notice the box?"

With all the other decorations flooding the room, she'd simply filed the colorful, flat box at the base of the tree into that category without really noticing it. She looked at it more closely, now, squinting at the tag tied to the ribbon wrapped around the box. Was that… her name?

"It's from Castaspella," Adora explained. "She said to give it to you on Winterfest day, but I don't think she'll mind if you get it a little early."

Catra stared dumbly at the box. "Why?

"Huh?"

"Why would she give me anything? We're–we were enemies."

"Not anymore," Adora said simply. "Besides. I think she's kind of a fan of how you didn't let her niece die on Horde Prime's ship."

Oh. That. It hadn't seemed like much, not compared to all the bad she'd done. Just barely enough to convince the alliance that she'd changed. Was changing.

"Open it," Adora prompted, nudging her forward.

Catra picked up the box and slowly, almost hesitantly removed the lid. There, amid some colored tissue paper, lay a sweater much like Adora's–except this one was orange, covered in a pattern of small trees and lights, and had a giant "C" knit into its front. She lifted it from the box to better see the pattern, the lumpy material incredibly soft under her fingers.

It was the ugliest thing she'd seen in her life.

She loved it.

"It's nice," she said, finally, voice a little thick.

"Try it on," Adora urged. Catra did, pulling it with some effort over her thick mane of hair and feeling it puff out from static electricity. The material felt even softer against her arms, and the low-grade chill she constantly felt faded almost immediately. Adora's hand landed gently on her arm.

"We're happy you're here, you know," Adora said, softly. "It's not just me. Bow, Glimmer." She gestured to the sweater. "Castaspella."

Catra snorted quietly, willing away the strange moisture that was collecting in her eyes. "I don't think Swift Wind likes me very much."

"He'll get over it." Adora smiled.

She suddenly leaned forward, wrapping Catra in another warm hug. This time, Catra didn't try to fight it, letting her arms come up around Adora as she buried her face in the soft warmth of Adora's shoulder.

"Happy Winterfest, Catra," Adora said, squeezing just a bit tighter. "I'm glad you're here."

Catra closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the sweater, the hug, and this new, strange sense of… belonging wash over her. She smiled into the soft material.

"So am I."

* * *

_Okay, I wasn't going to write anything because I didn't have time, but then this just demanded to be written XD Catra needs ALL the hugs. And an ugly Christmas sweater._

_(p.s. If you're following my multichapter fic, it's on hiatus until probably mid-January so I can catch up on some stuff)_

_Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays, everyone!_


End file.
